The Veteran's stepson, P.B., is recognized as his 'helpless child' for the purpose of additional dependency compensation due to permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining age 18. The claim was reopened based on new evidence showing a common-law marriage between the Veteran and P.B.'s mother before P.B.'s 18th birthday.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran entered into a common-law marriage with P.B.'s mother prior to his stepson's 18th birthday, which allowed for recognition of the stepson as the Veteran's 'helpless child' for dependency compensation purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- Permanent incapacity for self-support
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19187112
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,432 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19187112.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to VA's failure to provide clear information about obtaining medical records and non-medical evidence. The Veteran is asked to authorize release of relevant medical records from specific doctors and submit any additional non-medical evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran seeks recognition of his son W.L.D. as a 'helpless child' based on permanent incapacity for self-support prior to reaching the age of 18. The AOJ did not obtain all relevant SSA records, and this error is being corrected.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's son, D., is a disabled dependent of the Veteran. The Board finds there was a pre-decisional error in VA's duty to assist and requires remand for additional development including obtaining SSA disability benefits records and Dr. R.G.'s treatment records.
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